It is a pleasure to write a preface to this special issue of Geological Magazine, on the Zagros orogen. The papers reinforce Geological Magazine's commitment to publishing top quality research across subject areas within Earth Sciences, in forms from data-rich papers to large-scale reviews. It is notable how many of the papers are multi-disciplinary, or draw upon results from a particular study area to advance our understanding of more general geological processes. On behalf of the journal, I thank the Guest Editors Olivier, Bernhard and Guy for their enormous effort in gathering and editing the papers within the issue. Their enthusiasm has resulted in a much larger set of papers than was first thought likely. Nearly 60 authors are represented in the 17 papers; thanks go to them all for contributing so willingly. These scientists have collectively made this issue a body of research which will be invaluable for years to come. The benefits will go to those working on the geology of the Zagros, but also anyone with an interest in how the continents are formed and deformed, to create the landscapes on which we all live.

This study provides 39 new thermochronometric analyses from the western part of the Greater Caucasus, a region in which existing data are extremely limited and of questionable quality. The new results are consistent with field studies that identify Triassic to Middle Jurassic (Cimmerian) and Oligo-Miocene (Alpine) orogenic erosional events. An inverse relationship between the fission track and depositional ages of Oligo-Miocene sedimentary samples also implies some degree of Eocene erosion of the Greater Caucasus and intermediate sediment storage. Cooling ages and field relationships within the core of the range, west of Mt Elbrus, require ~5 km of Permo-Triassic exhumation and restrict the overall amount of Cenozoic exhumation to ~2.5 km. Current exhumation rates are typically low, and do not support a Plio-Pleistocene increase in climate-driven denudation. High (~1 km Ma−1) rates of exhumation are restricted to the southern flank of the range in northwest Georgia. Despite a general lack of significant seismicity within the study region, this exhumation peak is close to the largest instrumentally recorded earthquake in the Caucasus (Ms = 7.0). This may suggest that exhumation is associated with the decoupling of the sedimentary succession from its crystalline basement in the southern part of the range and the inversion of the largely Jurassic fill of the Greater Caucasus basin. Rates of exhumation are compatible with this being driven by active shortening. Further sampling and analysis are required to provide a higher-resolution, low-temperature thermochronology of Alpine exhumation, to isolate the drivers for Palaeogene Dziruli Massif cooling and uplift, and to constrain better the extent of the current, localized phase of rapid exhumation.

The updated geological and potential fields data on the East European Platform margin in SE Poland confirm the existence of several regional units differing in Ediacaran to Silurian development: the Upper Silesian Block, Małopolska Block and Łysogóry Block. All the blocks are characterized by a distinct crustal structure seen in Vp velocity models obtained from the seismic refraction data of the CELEBRATION 2000 Programme. The first two units are interpreted as exotic terranes initially derived from Avalonia-type crust and ultimately accreted before the late Early Devonian. The Łysogóry Block is probably a proximal terrane displaced dextrally along the Baltica margin. The sutures between the terranes do not precisely match lateral gradients in Vp models. This is partly explained by a limited resolution of refraction seismic data (20 km wide interpretative window). Most of the difference is related, however, to a post-accretionary tectonism, mainly Variscan transtension–transpression. The latter processes took advantage of lithospheric memory recorded earlier as zones of rheological weakness along the former suture zones. The course of the East European Platform margin (= Teisseyre–Tornquist Zone) corresponds most likely to the Nowe Miasto–Zawichost Fault marking the NE boundary of the proximal Łysogóry Terrane.

The Pele La Group in the Wachi La section in the Black Mountains of central Bhutan represents the easternmost exposure of Cambrian strata known in the Himalaya. The group contains a succession of siliciclastic rocks with minor amounts of carbonate, the uppermost unit of which, the Quartzite Formation, bears age-diagnostic trilobite body fossils that are approximately 493 Ma old. Trilobite species include Kaolishania granulosa, Taipaikia glabra and the new species Lingyuanaspis sangae. A billingsellid brachiopod, Billingsella cf. tonkiniana, is co-occurrent. This fauna is precisely correlated with that of a specific stratigraphic horizon within the upper part of the Kaolishania Zone, Stage 9 of the Cambrian System, Furongian Epoch of the North China block, and thus represents the youngest Cambrian sedimentary rocks yet known from the Himalaya. The faunal similarity suggests proximity between North China and the Himalayan margin at this time. This unit was deposited in a predominantly storm-influenced shelf and shoreface environment. U–Pb geochronological data from detrital zircon grains from the fossil-bearing beds of the Quartzite Formation and strata of the underlying Deshichiling Formation show grain age spectra consistent with those from Cambrian rocks of the Lesser and Tethyan Himalaya in Tibet, India and Pakistan. These data support continuity of the northern Gondwanan margin across the Himalaya. Prominent peaks of approximately 500 Ma zircons in both the Quartzite and Deshichiling formations are consistent with the Furongian (late Cambrian) age assignment for these strata. The presence of these relatively young zircon populations implies rapid post-cooling erosion of igneous bodies and subsequent deposition which may reflect the influence of a widespread Cambro-Ordovician orogenic event evident in the western Himalaya.

The Cycladic blueschist belt, Greece, is mostly submerged below sea level and regional correlations are difficult to establish. Marbles are widespread within the belt and locally used as marker horizons to subdivide monotonous schist sequences. However, owing to the lack of distinctive petrographic characteristics, the marbles have not been used for island-to-island correlations. This study aims to investigate the potential of Sr-, C- and O-isotope compositions of marbles as a tool for unravelling the litho- and/or tectonostratigraphic relationships across the Cycladic islands, and as a proxy for the time of sediment formation. For this purpose, we have studied metamorphic carbonate rocks from the islands of Tinos, Andros, Syros, Sifnos and Naxos. Identical 87Sr/86Sr values for certain marble horizons occurring on Tinos, Andros and Sifnos are interpreted to document coeval regional carbonate precipitation. The 87Sr/86Sr values of the apparently least altered samples intersect the seawater curve multiple times within the most likely time interval of original carbonate precipitation (< 240 Ma; as indicated by previously published ion probe U–Pb zircon data) and thus an unequivocal age assignment is not possible. Very broad temporal correlations are possible, but more subtle distinctions are not feasible. On Andros, the overlapping Sr-isotope values of marbles representing the lowest and highest parts of the metamorphic succession are in accordance with a model suggesting isoclinal folding or thrusting of a single horizon, or very fast sedimentation. In contrast, distinct 87Sr/86Sr values for samples from Tinos, representing different levels of the metamorphic succession, suggest that these rocks represent a temporal succession and not the tectonic repetition of a single horizon. Based on Sr-, O- and C-isotope characteristics alone the time equivalence of marbles occurring on different islands could not be documented unambiguously. However, by using various combinations of these parameters, some occurrences can be discriminated from the overall sample population. The new data further accentuate the general potential of coupled Sr-, C- and O-isotope characteristics for identification of archaeological provenance and complement existing datasets for Aegean marbles.

Two completely dissimilar faunal changes occur between the Sunwaptan and Skullrockian Stages (Ptychaspid and Symphysurid ‘Biomeres’) in the uppermost Cambrian on the east Laurentian craton. An undolomitized section in the Little Falls Formation in Washington County, New York, shows a typical ‘biomere’ extinction, with highest Sunwaptan trilobites followed by the abrupt appearance of Cordylodus proavus Zone conodonts and the lowest post-extinction trilobites (Parakoldinioidia Endo) 5.0 m higher. This stage boundary interval is very condensed by comparison with coeval Great Basin and Texas sections. Approximately 70 km southwest, typical pre-extinction taxa (the catillicephalid Acheilops Ulrich and several dikelocephalid species) are shown for the first time to persist well beyond the extinction as they occur with middle C. proavus Zone conodonts (Clavohamulus elongatus or, more likely, Hirsutodontus simplex Subzone). The Ritchie Limestone member of the uppermost Little Falls Formation yields a succession of conodont faunas that spans the C. elongatus–H. simplex–Clavohamulus hintzei Subzones (middle–upper C. proavus Zone). These data prove that the trilobites are a relict fauna that persisted into the Symphysurina Zone of the Skullrockian Stage. The massive (burrow-churned), mollusc-dominated Ritchie Limestone, with the second Upper Cambrian cephalopod locality in east Laurentia, represents an inner-shelf refugium for Sunwaptan trilobites that has not been previously encountered. Final extinction of typical Sunwaptan clades is at least locally diachronous, and a simple, genus-based approach to trilobite biostratigraphy in the Cambrian–Ordovician boundary interval is untenable. The relict fauna appears to be distinct at the species level, so it is likely that a viable, species-based biostratigraphy can be developed. Teridontus gallicus Serpagli et al. 2008 is a synonym of T. nakamurai (Nogami, 1967), and T.? francisi Landing sp. nov., with a large base and tiny cusp, is a lower C. proavus Zone form. New trilobites are Acheilops olbermanni Westrop sp. nov. and Parakoldinioidia maddowae Westrop sp. nov. The lowest Ordovician ‘Gailor Dolomite’ is a junior synonym of the Tribes Hill Formation, and the Ritchie Limestone is assigned to the top of the terminal Cambrian Little Falls Formation.

The Lower Carboniferous flysch of the Istanbul Zone in Turkey is an over 1500 m thick turbiditic sandstone–shale sequence marking the onset of the Variscan deformation in the Pontides. It overlies Lower Carboniferous black cherts and is unconformably overlain by Lower Triassic continental sandstones and conglomerates. The petrography of the Carboniferous sandstones and the geochronology and geochemistry of the detrital zircons and rutiles were studied to establish the provenance of the clastic rocks. The sandstones are feldspathic to lithic greywackes and subgreywackes with approximately equal amounts of quartz, feldspar and lithic clasts. The amount of quartz and lithic fragments decreases upwards in the sequence at the expense of feldspar. The lithic fragments are dominated by intermediate volcanic rocks, followed by metamorphic and sedimentary rock fragments. Coarse lithic fragments are generally granitoidic. In the discrimination diagrams, sandstone samples lie mainly in the field of dissected arc. A total of 218 detrital zircons and 35 detrital rutiles from four sandstone samples were analysed with laser ablation ICP-MS. The detrital zircons show a predominantly bimodal age distribution with Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous (390 to 335 Ma) and Cambrian–Neoproterozoic (640 to 520 Ma) ages. The remaining 9 % of the analysed zircons are in the 1700–2750 Ma range; zircons of the 700–1700 Ma age range are absent. The REE patterns and Th/U ratios of the zircons are consistent with a magmatic origin. With one exception (Neoproterozoic), the rutile ages are Late Devonian–Early Carboniferous and their geochemistry indicates that they were derived from amphibolite-facies metamorphic rocks. Sandstone petrography and detrital zircon–rutile ages suggest one dominant source for the Lower Carboniferous sandstones: a Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous magmatic and metamorphic province with overprinted Neoproterozoic basement. Late Devonian–Early Carboniferous magmatic and metamorphic rocks are unknown from the Eastern Mediterranean region. They are, however, widespread in central Europe. The Istanbul Zone is commonly correlated with the Avalonian terrranes in central Europe, which collided with the Armorican terranes during Carboniferous times, resulting in the Variscan orogeny. The Carboniferous flysch of the Istanbul Zone must have been derived from a colliding Armorican terrane, as indicated by the absence of 700–1700 Ma zircons and by Late Devonian–Early Carboniferous magmatism, typical features of the Armorican terranes. This suggests that during Carboniferous times the Istanbul terrane was located close to the Bohemian Massif and has been translated by strike-slip along the Trans-European Suture Zone to its Cretaceous position north of the Black Sea.

This special issue of Geological Magazine presents a collection of 17 papers dealing with different aspects of the Zagros orogen. Many, though not all, of these contributions were presented as part of a highly successful session devoted to the geodynamic evolution of the Zagros belt at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2010 in Vienna (Austria). The aim of this gathering was to assemble a broad group of Earth scientists interested in the Zagros orogen to discuss and disseminate new results and ideas efficiently. This volume presents a collection of some of the diverse research that is currently being carried out in the Zagros. We believe that these studies contribute to the understanding of the geodynamic evolution of the Zagros Mountains in particular, but in addition to orogenic processes in general.

The Castañar Cave (central western Spain) formed in mixed carbonate–siliciclastic rocks of Neoproterozoic age. The host rock is finely bedded and shows a complex network of folds and fractures, with a prevalent N150E strike. This structure controlled the development and the maze pattern of the cave, as well as its main water routes. The cave formed more than 350 ka ago as the result of both the dissolution of interbedded carbonates and weathering of siliciclastic beds, which also promoted collapse of the overlying host rock. At present it is a totally vadose hypergenic cave, but its initial development could have been phreatic. The cave's speleothems vary widely in their morphology and mineralogy. In general, massive speleothems (stalactites, stalagmites, flowstones, etc.) are associated with the main fractures of the cave and bedding planes. These discontinuities offer a fairly continuous water supply. Other branching, fibrous, mostly aragonite speleothems, commonly occur in the steeper cave walls and were produced by capillary seepage or drip water. Detailed petrographical and isotope analyses indicate that both aragonite and calcite precipitated as primary minerals in the cave waters. Primary calcite precipitated in waters of low magnesium content, whereas aragonite precipitated from magnesium-rich waters. Differences in isotope values for calcite (−5.2 ‰ for δ18O and −9.6 ‰ for δ13C) and aragonite (δ18O of −4.5 ‰ and δ13C of −3.5 ‰) can be explained by the fact that the more unstable mineral (aragonite) tends to incorporate the heavier C isotope to stabilize its structure or that aragonite precipitates in heavier waters. Changes in the water supply and the chemistry and instability of aragonite caused: (1) inversion of aragonite to calcite, which led to the transformation of aragonite needles into coarse calcite mosaics, (2) micritization, which appears as films or crusts of powdery, opaque calcite, and (3) dissolution. Dolomite, huntite, magnesite and sepiolite were identified within moonmilk deposits and crusts. Moonmilk occurs as a soft, white powder deposit on different types of speleothems, but mostly on aragonite formations. Huntite and magnesite formed as primary minerals, whereas dolomite arose via the replacement of both huntite and aragonite. Owing to its variety of speleothems and location in an area of scarce karstic features, the Castañar Cave was declared a Natural Monument in 1997 and is presently the target of a protection and research programme. Although the main products formed in the cave and their processes are relatively well known, further radiometric data are needed to better constrain the timing of these processes. For example, it is difficult to understand why some aragonite speleothems around 350 ka old have not yet given way to calcite, which indicates that the environmental setting of the cave is still not fully understood.

The morphology and structure of the 1999 lava flows at Mount Cameroon volcano are documented and discussed in relation to local and source dynamics. Structures are analysed qualitatively and more detailed arguments are developed on the processes of levee formation and systematic links between flow dynamics and levee–channel interface geometry. The flows have clear channels bordered by four main types of levees: initial, accretionary, rubble and overflow levees. Thermally immature pahoehoe lava units with overflow drapes define the proximal zone, whereas rubble and accretionary levees are common in the distal region bordering thermally mature aa clinker or blocky aa flow channels. Pressure ridges, squeeze-ups and pahoehoe ropes are the prevalent compressive structures. Standlines displayed on clinkery breccias are interpreted to represent levee–channel interactions in response to changing flow levels. These data complement previous knowledge on lava flow morphology, thus far dominated by Etnean and Hawaiian examples.

This paper presents a synthetic view of the geodynamic evolution of the Zagros orogen within the frame of the Arabia–Eurasia collision. The Zagros orogen and the Iranian plateau preserve a record of the long-standing convergence history between Eurasia and Arabia across the Neo-Tethys, from subduction/obduction processes to present-day collision (from ~ 150 to 0 Ma). We herein combine the results obtained on several geodynamic issues, namely the location of the oceanic suture zone, the age of oceanic closure and collision, the magmatic and geochemical evolution of the Eurasian upper plate during convergence (as testified by the successive Sanandaj–Sirjan, Kermanshah and Urumieh–Dokhtar magmatic arcs), the P–T–t history of the few Zagros blueschists, the convergence characteristics across the Neo-Tethys (kinematic velocities, tomographic constraints, subduction zones and obduction processes), together with a survey of recent results gathered by others. We provide lithospheric-scale reconstructions of the Zagros orogen from ~ 150 to 0 Ma across two SW–NE transects. The evolution of the Zagros orogen is also compared to those of the nearby Turkish and Himalayan orogens. In our geotectonic scenario for the Zagros convergence, we outline three main periods/regimes: (1) the Mid to Late Cretaceous (115–85 Ma) corresponds to a distinctive period of perturbation of subduction processes and interplate mechanical coupling marked by blueschist exhumation and upper-plate fragmentation, (2) the Paleocene–Eocene (60–40 Ma) witnesses slab break-off, major shifts in arc magmatism and distributed extension within the upper plate, and (3) from the Oligocene onwards (~ 30–0 Ma), collision develops with a progressive SW migration of deformation and topographic build-up (Sanandaj–Sirjan Zone: 20–15 Ma, High Zagros: ~12–8 Ma; Simply Folded Belt: 5–0 Ma) and with partial slab tear at depths (~10 Ma to present). Our reconstructions underline the key role played by subduction throughout the whole convergence history. We finally stress that such a long-lasting subduction system with changing boundary conditions also makes the Zagros orogen an ideal natural laboratory for subduction processes.

Chitinozoans are considered as reproductive bodies of marine invertebrates, called chitinozoophorans. These chitinozoophorans were most likely to have been small, pelagic or necto-pelagic, soft-bodied, probably wormlike animals, and judging from the size of chitinozoans, they probably measured from a few millimetres to a few centimetres in length. The chitinozoophorans most likely survived by grazing on phytoplankton. There is no evidence of a large colonization of the pelagic niche in the Cambrian, but from the Early Ordovician onward, this niche was exploited chiefly by graptolites and chitinozoophorans. Both groups inhabited nearshore and offshore habitats, but in contrast to the graptolites, the chitinozoans displayed their highest diversity at high latitude, in less distal (that is, upper and lower offshore) environments. The chitinozoan group evolved rapidly during the Ordovician and reached its maximum Ordovician diversity in the late Darriwilian. From the first occurrence of chitinozoans in early Tremadocian times, to the biodiversity crisis in latest Ordovician times, nearly 80 % of the morphological innovations took place. Until their extinction in the latest Devonian, chitinozoans survived through several biodiversity crises: in the early Late Ordovician, late Hirnantian, late Wenlock, earliest Emsian, and in the latest Frasnian (Kellwasser event). During the melting of the Hirnantian ice sheet, most Ordovician genera and species became extinct, but some genera extended beyond the boundary (e.g. Spinachitina, Belonechitina, Cyathochitina, Ancyrochitina). The Hirnantian glaciation was not directly responsible for the dramatic extinction of organic-walled microfossils, but it certainly accelerated the extinction of lineages that had already been weakened since the early to mid-Katian. The late Wenlock and earliest Emsian graptolite crises affected the chitinozoophorans to a lesser degree, and the latest Frasnian Kellwasser event did not greatly affect chitinozoophorans. The disappearance of the chitinozoan group at the end of the Famennian resulted from a combination of factors, for example, the chitinozoophorans probably no longer had the genetic potential for successful adaptations to successive drastic environmental changes (only one species is known from the latest Famennian), their usual niche was invaded by more efficient groups, and their usual food supply disappeared or was no longer sufficient. The latter factor is supported by the contemporaneous decline in phytoplankton.

Gabbro samples (c. < 0.4 Ma old) dredged from close to the ‘Vityaz Megamullion’ on the slow-spreading Northern Central Indian Ridge (NCIR, 18–22 mm yr−1) include mostly olivine gabbro and Fe–Ti oxide gabbro. The cumulate olivine gabbro shows ophitic to subophitic texture with early formed plagioclase crystals in mutual contact with each other, and a narrow range of compositions of olivine (Fo80–81), clinopyroxene (magnesium number: 85–87) and plagioclase (An67–70). This olivine gabbro could be geochemically cogenetic with the evolved oxide gabbro. These gabbro samples are geochemically distinct from the CIR gabbro occurring along the Vema, Argo and Marie Celeste transform faults and can further be discriminated from the associated NCIR basalts by their clinopyroxene (augite in gabbro, and diopsidic in basalts) and olivine (gabbro: Fo80–81, basalts: Fo82–88) compositions. Our major oxide, trace element and REE geochemistry analyses suggest that the gabbro and the NCIR basalts are also not cogenetic and had experienced different trends of geochemical evolution. The clinopyroxenes of the present NCIR gabbros are geochemically similar to primitive melt that is in equilibrium with mantle peridotite, and do not show any poikilitic texture with resorbed plagioclase; these results negate the possibility of these gabbros being a pre-existing cumulate that has been brought up to the shallower oceanic crust and interacted with the NCIR basalt. The Sr, Pb and Nd isotopic data of the gabbro substantially differ from those of the NCIR basalts and suggest significant contamination of the depleted mantle source of the gabbro, most likely by the Indian Ocean pelagic sediments. The Pb-isotope data suggest that the proportion of pelagic sediment that mixed in the depleted mantle source of the NCIR gabbro is much higher than the level of contamination observed for the Indian Ocean MORBs.

The Neogene extensional province of southern Tuscany in central Italy provides an outstanding example of fossil and active structurally controlled fluid flow and epithermal ore mineralization associated with post-orogenic silicic magmatism. Characterization of the hydrodynamic regime leading to the genesis of the polysulphide deposit (known as Filone di Boccheggiano) hosted within the damage zone of the Boccheggiano Fault is a key target to assess modes of fossil hydrothermal fluid circulation in the region and, more generally, to provide inferences on fault-controlled hydrothermal fluid flow in extensional settings. We provide a detailed description of the fault zone architecture and alteration/mineralization associated with the Boccheggiano ore deposit and report the results of fluid inclusion and stable oxygen isotope studies. This investigation shows that the Boccheggiano ore consists of an adularia/illite-type epithermal deposit and that sulphide ore deposition was controlled by channelling of hydrothermal fluids of dominantly meteoric origin within the highly anisotropic permeability structure of the Boccheggiano Fault. The low permeability structure of the fault core compartmentalized the fluid outflow preventing substantial cross-fault flow, with focused fluid flow occurring at the hangingwall of the fault controlled by fracture permeability. Fluid inclusion characteristics indicate that ore minerals were deposited between 280° and 350°C in the upper levels of the brittle extending crust (lithostatic pressure in the order of 0.1 GPa). Abundant vapour-rich inclusions in ore-stage quartz are consistent with fluid immiscibility and boiling, and quartz ore vein textures suggest that mineralization in the Boccheggiano ore deposit occurred during cyclic fluid flow in a deformation regime regulated by transient and fluctuating fluid pressure conditions. Results from this study (i) predict a strongly anisotropic permeability structure of the fault damage zone during crustal extension, and (ii) indicate the rate of secondary (structural) permeability creation and maintenance by active deformation in the hangingwall of extensional faults as the major factor leading to effective hydraulic transmissivity in extensional terranes. These features intimately link ore-grade mineralization in extensional settings to telescoping of hydrothermal flow along the hangingwall block(s) of major extensional fault zones.

The southern part of the Strandja Massif, northern Thrace, Turkey, comprises a basement of various gneisses, micaschists and rare amphibolite, and a cover of metaconglomerate and metasandstone, separated from each other by a pre-metamorphic unconformity. Metamorphic grade decreases from the epidote–amphibolite facies in the south to the albite–epidote–amphibolite/greenschist-facies transition in the north. Estimated P–T conditions are 485–530°C and 0.60–0.80 GPa in the epidote–amphibolite facies domain, and decrease towards the transitional domain between greenschist- and epidote–amphibolite facies. Rb–Sr muscovite ages range from 162.9 ± 1.6 Ma to 149.1 ± 2.1 Ma, and are significantly older (279–296 Ma) in the northernmost part of the study area. The Rb–Sr biotite ages decrease from 153.9 ± 1.5 Ma in the south to 134.4 ± 1.3 Ma in the north. These age values in conjunction with the attained temperatures suggest that the peak metamorphism occurred at around 160 Ma and cooling happened diachronously, and Rb–Sr muscovite ages were not reset during the metamorphism in the northernmost part. Structural features such as (i) consistent S-dipping foliation and SW to SE-plunging stretching lineation, (ii) top-to-the-N shear sense, and (iii) N-vergent ductile shear zones and brittle thrusts suggest a N-vergent compressional deformation coupled with exhumation. We tentatively ascribe this metamorphism and subsequent diachronous cooling to the northward propagation of a thrust slice. The compressional events in the Strandja Massif were most probably related to the coeval N-vergent subduction/collision system in the southerly lying Rhodope Massif.

Spinel–cordierite–plagioclase symplectites partially replacing andalusite occur in the metapelitic migmatite rocks of the Alvand aureole within the Sanandaj–Sirjan metamorphic belt, Hamadan, Iran. The presence of melt shows that corona development occurred under partial melting conditions. Spinel is predicted to grow with cordierite at around 700°C. Exhaustion of the available SiO2 and/or separation of sillimanite/andalusite from SiO2-rich matrix domains by cordierite resulted in the formation of localized low-silica activity domains and thus triggered the growth of spinel in the rim of andalusite, the reaction Sil/And + Bt = Crd + Spl + Kfs + melt, as the most common reaction for the development of coronas in the metapelitic of Alvand aureole. The breakdown of garnet to plagioclase + sillimanite, dehydration melting and the formation of spinel–plagioclase symplectite could occur during heating or decompression; these textures are limited to the contact aureole in the studied area, so heating is perhaps the more likely explanation for formation of the symplectites in the metapelitic rocks of the Alvand aureole. The P–T diagram, inferred paths and zoning profiles of garnet do not account for the decompression history of the terrane.

The discovery of new specimens of Pachyvaranus crassispondylus Arambourg, 1952 from the Maastrichtian phosphates of Morocco and Syria enables us to (1) redescribe in detail this poorly known varanoid lizard, (2) provide a more detailed diagnosis and (3) re-evaluate the systematic affinities of this taxon within squamates. The latter is placed in Pachyvaranidae nov., considered a new unranked clade of non-pythonomorph Varanoidea. The intense pachyosteosclerosis observed in the vertebrae and ribs suggests a primarily aquatic mode of life for Pachyvaranus. This is in accordance with the sedimentological context (shallow marine environment). As for its palaeobiogeographical distribution, Pachyvaranus is a component of the marine reptile assemblages from the southern margin of the Mediterranean Tethys, around palaeolatitudes 20° N. The osteoderms previously referred to this taxon by Arambourg are reanalysed and assigned to a teleost fish.

The motion of Arabia was stable with respect to Eurasia over the past 22 Ma. Deformation and exhumation in the Zagros is seen to initiate at the same time as argued by new detrital thermochronologic constraints and increasing accumulation rates in synorogenic sediments. A recent magnetostratigraphic dating of the Bakhtyari conglomerates in the northern Fars region of the Zagros further suggests that shortening and uplift in the Zagros Folded Belt accelerated after 12.4 Ma. Available temporal constraints from surrounding collision belts indicate that shortening and uplift focused in regions bordering the Iranian plateau to the south between 15 and 5 Ma. As boundary velocity was kept constant this requires concomitant decreasing strain rates in the Iranian plateau. Slab detachment has been proposed to explain the observed changes as well as mantle delamination, but the insignificant change in the Arabian slab motion and lack of unambiguous constraints make both hypotheses difficult to account for. It is proposed based on a review of shortening estimates provided throughout the Arabia–Eurasia collision that the total 440 km of convergence predicted by geodesy and plate reconstruction over the past 22 Ma can be accounted for by distributed shortening. I suggest that the topography and expansion of the Iranian plateau over Late Miocene–Pliocene time can be reproduced by the progressive thickening of the originally thin Iranian continental lithosphere presumably thermally weakened during the Eocene extensional and magmatic event.

Tectonothermal analysis of a mainly carbonate unit located in the external part of the Variscan orogen in NW Spain is dealt with using the conodont colour alteration index (CAI) and the study of textures of these microfossils. The Kübler index of the illite (KI) is used as a complementary method. The area is characterized by a great uniformity in the CAI values, which in most cases are <2, indicating diagenetic conditions. In spite of the low CAI values, textures show great variety and were mainly originated by diagenetic processes of apatite dissolution and precipitation. The conodonts underwent a long period of heating (probably from the Pennsylvanian to the Cenozoic) to low temperatures (<100°C) to reach the low CAI values measured. Assuming a normal geothermal gradient, these temperatures required an overburden <3 km that in part was due to burial and in part to tectonic superimposition. Minor local anomalies in the CAI values and some textural alterations, related to dissolution and precipitation of authigenic minerals, could be due to epithermal activity that gave rise to various ore deposits in the studied area mainly during Permian times.